Holders in which suture ampules may be broken



A. A. MlLEY Jan. 17, 1956 HOLDERS IN WHICH SUTURE AMPULES MAY B BROKEN Filed Oct. 18, 1954 INVENTOR.

,4u/E /Vl/LEY BY Fla/ United States Patent O HOLDERS 1N WHICH SUTURE AMPULES MAY BE BROKEN Allie A. Miley, Royal Oak Township, Oakland County, Mich.v

Application October 18, 1954, Serial No. 462,890

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-1) This invention relates to holders in which suture ampules may be broken. At the present time it is customary in an operating room to hold glass ampules in a towel and break them when sutures are required. However this procedure is open to the objection that occasionally a piece of ampule glass flies from beneath the towel and is liable to land where it is not wanted, or even to hurt someone.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a holder in which ampules may be broken wherein an ampule is adapted to be so held at the time of breakage that all the broken pieces of glass must fall into a bag which forms part of the holder.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a holder including a stand having means thereon for supporting a exible bag so that the latter, which is sterile, completely covers the ystand and leaves no portion of the latter, above the table to which the stand is adapted to be secured, exposed.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a holder including a bag which may be readily mounted upon or removed from the holder, which is cheap and simple to manufacture and easy to sterilize; and which intermediately of its length has a pad secured to its inner side so that an ampule may be held with the latter in such a manner that breaking glass must remain within the bag and drops toward the bottom thereof.

Having thus briey and broadly stated some of the objects and advantages of the invention I will now describe it in detail with the aid of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l shows a side view of the invention, partly in section.

Figure 2 is a side view of the frame for the holder,

Figure 3 is a plan view, and

Figure 4 is a front elevation thereof.

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the bag, and

Figure 6 is a partial side elevation of a slightly modified form ofthe frame.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a vertical frame rigidly secured to the upper extremity of which is one side of a horizontal hoop 2. The lower extremity of the frame 1 is provided with suitable means for securing it to a table A. In Figures l to 4, inclusive, a baseplate 3 projects laterally from and is suitably secured to the frame 1 so that the said plate extends beneath the said hoop; and projecting laterally from the lower extremity of the frame 1 and spaced beneath the baseplate 3 is a flange 4 through which a tapped vertical opening 5 is provided for a screw 6. Mounted on the upper extremity of the screw 6 is a washer 7 which, when the screw is tightened, is forced against the underside of the table A to hold the frame and hoop firmly in position.

In the modification shown in Figure 6, the flange 6 is dispensed with and the baseplate 3a, which projects horizontally from and is rmly attached to the lower extremity of the frame 1, is secured upon the table A as by screws 3b.

ICC

8 denotes a bag made of fabric or other readily ilexible material which may be easily sterilized. Formed around the open extremity of the bag 8 is a hem 9 to provide an encircling slot for a drawstring 10 the ends of which project through an opening 11 in the said hem. The bag is placed in the hoop so that its closed extremity rests adjacent or upon the baseplate 3, or 3a. Intermediately of its length the bag is outwardly and downwardly folded over the hoop 2 and frame 1 so that its open end rests upon the top of the table A thereby completely covering that portion of the frame which extends above the top of the table. The drawstring is then pulled tight and tied around the periphery of the baseplate 3, or 3a, and the back of the frame 1 so that both the baseplate and the frame are covered by the bag. In order to retain the hemmed extremity of the bag in contact with the top of the table the periphery of the baseplate is preferably downwardly and inwardly inclined as shown at 14 and a similar inwardly and downwardly inclined groove 15 is formed around the back of the frame 1, in alignment with the groove 14.

Sewn or otherwise suitably secured in and to the bag 8 intermediately of its depth is one side of a pad 16, usually made of the same material as the bag itself, so that its free extremity normally hangs down against the inside of the bag. This pad is so positioned that when the bag is in use the attached upper margin of the pad is located slightly below the hoop 2, as shown in Figure l.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that a glass ampule may be placed against the side of the pad 16 which normally rests contiguous to one inner side of the bag 8, and the ends of the ampule held with the pad between the ampule and the lingers for breaking so that all broken glass must remain in the bag and drop to the bottom of the latter thereby preventing the escape of any broken pieces of the ampule. At the same time since the bag is sterile and completely covers the hoop and frame there is no fear of contact being made with any unsterile parts. It will also be noted that when made of fabric both the bag and the attached pad preferably consist of a plurality of layers of the material.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and shown it is understood that further alterations and modifications may be made thereto provided the said alterations and modications fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A holder in which ampules may be broken comprising a frame having means thereon for supporting the latter, a substantially horizontal hoop carried by the upper extremity of the frame, a sterilizable fabric bag the closed extremity of which is mounted in the frame and extends through the hoop, the bag intermediately of its length being outwardly and downwardly folded over the hoop whereby the downwardly folded portion covers the frame, means for securing the open extremity of the bag to the frame, and a sterilizable fabric ap secured to the inner side of the bag between its closed extremity and its folded portion whereby an ampule may be held for breaking between folded portions of the underside of the flap to prevent pieces of glass from the ampule escaping from the bag during breakage.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 861,007 Wilhelm c July 23, 1907 1,052,379 Ranken et al Feb. 4, 1913 1,687,004 Briggs Oct. 9, 1928 2,112,406 Metro Mar. 29, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,658 Great Britain June 28, 1893 

